Lecture Pack 04
Republic of the Philippines
CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY NAIC
(Formerly CAVITE COLLEGE OF FISHERIES)
Bucana Malaki, Naic, Cavite
www.cvsu-naic.edu.ph
Lecture Pack #4
Stars
BSES 35 – Astronomy
BSEd 3 – Science
Prepared by:
Prof. Keanno Rod M. Peliña
Instructor I
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Lecture Pack 04: Stars
(Week 5 – March 22, 24, 2021)
Objectives:
After the completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Describe the star formation processes in an environment of a molecular cloud;
2. Discuss the different kinds of star and its life cycle;
3. Explain how the position of a constellation changes in the course of night;
4. Identify which constellation will be observed at different times of the year; and
5. Identify the characteristics of stars using HR diagram.
Instruction to the learners:
Going through this module can be both a fun and a meaningful learning experience. All
you need to do is make use of your time and resources efficiently. To do this, here are
some tips for you:
1. Take time in reading and understanding each lesson. It is better to be slow but sure
than to hurry finishing the module only to find out that you missed the concepts you are
supposed to learn.
2. Do not jump from one chapter to another. Usually, the lessons are arranged such that
one is built upon another, hence an understanding of the first is essential in
comprehending the succeeding lessons.
3. Be honest. When answering the test items, do not turn to the key to correction page
unless you are done. Likewise, when performing experiments, record only what you
have really observed.
4. Don’t hesitate to ask through any means of communication. If you need to clarify
something, approach your instructor or any knowledgeable person.
Pre – Test:
Draw your own star according to your first interpretation based on your childhood
imagination.
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STARS
Star is a ball of hot gases that emits light throughout the universe. The Sun is the only
star in the solar system, but there are more billions of stars in our galaxy.
Characteristics of the stars
Astronomers classify stars according to their physical characteristics such as
brightness, color, or spectral class, surface temperature, size and mass.
Brightness
Luminosity and magnitude are the two characteristics that define the brightness of a
star. Luminosity is the total energy that a star produces in one second. The radius of the
star and its surface temperature determine its luminosity. On the other hand, apparent
magnitude of a star is its perceived brightness as seen on Earth. The closer the star to
the Earth, the brighter it looks. The Sun is the brightest object in the Earth’s sky.
Color
The color of a star depends on its surface temperature. The spectral class of a star is
also its color. Cooler stars are red while hotter stars have bluer appearance. Stars in the
mid ranges are white or yellow color like the Sun.
Temperature
Astronomers measure a star’s temperature on the Kelvin scale. Zero degree on the
Kelvin (K) scale is absolute zero and is equal to -273.15 degrees Celsius. The coolest,
reddest stars (red giants) are approximately 2,500 K, while the hottest stars (blue
giants) can reach 50,000 K. Note that the Sun is about 5,500 K.
Size
Astronomers measure the size of a star in terms of the Sun’s radius which means that if
a star measures 1 solar radii is much larger than the sun. Rigel is one of the supergiant
stars.
Mass
The mass of a star is also measured in terms of the Sun. For example, Rigel with a
mass of 3.5 solar masses is much larger than the Sun. However, two stars of a similar
size may not necessarily have the same mass because stars vary in density,
Different Kinds of Stars
White dwarfs are very dense stars. Their mass is comparable to that of the Sun, and
their volume is comparable to that of the Earth. Their faint luminosity comes from the
emission of stored thermal energy,
Main sequence stars are made from the fusion of hydrogen atoms to form helium
atoms in their cores. About 90% of the stars in the universe including the sun are main
sequence stars.
Giant stars former dwarfs that have cooled and expanded to a great size. In 5 million
years from now, this will be the fate of the Sun.
Supergiant stars start their life as main sequence dwarfs. They are much brighter,
hotter, and massive than the sun, which can be hundreds of times bigger. It has a hectic
but very shorter life.
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Process of Star Formation
The illustration shows the six steps of star formation for Sun-like stars. The process
starts on (A), where gas and dust in the space between stars (also called the interstellar
medium, ISM) collapse into a dense ball of gas called a prestellar core (B) that
eventually will become the sun. During the collapse a disk (C) forms around the core,
while two jets are emitted at the poles. At some point the star stops growing, but gas still
fall onto the disk (D). After a few million years this process also halts. The star is now
born (E), while the planets are being formed from the left-over material, which will
eventually become a solar system (F). A solar system typically lives 10 billion years
after the formation process.
Life Cycle of a Star
It begins from a huge cloud of gas and dust called nebula. The force of the gas within
the nebula causes explosion, which makes the clouds of gas and dust hot. As this
process continues, the cloud breaks up into smaller clumps, resulting in the formation of
a star.
The stars develops, they accumulate mass from the clouds arounf them and grow into
main sequence stars. Like the Sun, they exist in a state of nuclear fusion during which
they will emit energy by fusing hydrogen to form helium for billions ogf years. Stars
evolve over billions of years and become bigger. The greater the mass of star, the
shorter is its lifespan.
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As stars move toward the end of their lives, much of their hydrogen has been converted
to helium. Helium sinks to its core and raises its temperature causing its outer shell to
expand. These large, swelling stars are known as red giants.
Some stars come to an end when their hydrogen fuel is used up. When this happens,
they swell up into supergiants. When all the gas fuel is used, these supergiants shrink
into a white dwarf again. White dwarfs cool for billions of years, until they eventually go
dark and will not be able to produce energy.
However, some stars come to an end by collapsing into pieces in an explosion that
takes place in the universe. This violent explosion may leave a small core that will
become a neutron star or black hole.
Constellation
It is a group of stars forming a distinct pattern that is named after a mythological figure.
The ancient Egyptian astronomer, Ptolemy, listed 48 constellations in his book “The
Almagest” which is written in 150 AD. European astronomers then added another 40
constellations in the 17th and 18th centuries. During the early 1900’s the International
Astronomical Union mapped the boundaries between all the constellations also that
there were no gaps between the constellations. Now every star belongs to constellation
which made up the 88 constellations with defined boundaries.
Most constellations were named according to religious beliefs and mythological
characters. The oldest constellations were probably named more than 4,000 years ago.
Before, the ancient Greeks has no names for constellations. The final gaps in the
southern constellations were filled by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis De Lacaille.
Orion is one of the oldest constellations. More than a thousand years ago it was a
known as Tammuz to the Chaldeans. Tammy was the name of the month when the
three stars across its middle, on the other hands, rose before sunrise. However, the
Syrians knew it as Al-Jabbar (the giant). On the other hand, the ancient Egyptians
named it Sahu, the soul of the God Osiris, and the Greeks named it Orion, which means
the giant hunter in Greek Mythology. Orion is also considered as the head of a
constellation family located in the equatorial region of the sky.
Listed in the table below are known as the largest and smallest constellation.
Largest Constellations Smallest Constellations
Hydra (The Serpent) Crux (The Southern Cross)
Virgo (The Virgin) Equuleus (The Little Horse)
Ursa major (The Great Bear) Sagittarius (The Archer)
Cetus (The Sea Monster) Circinus (The Drawing Compass)
Hercules (The Strong Man) Delphinus (The Dolphin)
Positions of the Constellation
Constellations are patterns of stars which have imaginary boundaries. However, keep in
mind that these constellations are not real objects, but just images or patterns formed
from group of stars. The stars in a constellation are in fact separated by large distances
in space and rarely have any connection with each other. They simply lie in the direction
when viewed from the observation point on Earth.
At different times of the year, different constellations can be seen in the sky. They can
be useful in locating positions of stars in the sky and finding directions under the night
sky.
HR Diagram
One of the most useful tools in determining the characteristics of stars is the
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HR diagram). It was developed by two astronomers
Ejnar Hertzsprung and Henry Norris Russell.
In 1911, Hertzsprung, a Danish astronomer plotted the absolute magnitude of stars
against their temperature. On the other hand in 1913, Russell, an American astronomer
used spectral colors against the absolute magnitude. The resulting plots showed that
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the relationship between temperature and luminosity of a star was not random but
instead appeared to fall into distinct groups such as white dwarfs, main sequence,
giants, and super giants stars. These are illustrated in the HR diagram below.
The color and brightness of the stars depends on its temperature, they are divided into
seven types: O (which is the hottest), B, A, F, G, K and M (which is the coolest). The
sun is a G type of star.
Star Type Spectral Class Temperature
O Blue 28,000 – 50,000 K
B Blue-White 9,900 – 28,000 K
A White 7,400 – 9,900 K
F White-Yellow 6,000 – 7,400 K
G White-Yellow 4,900 – 6,000 K
K Orange 3,500 – 4,900 K
M Red-Orange 2,000 – 3,500 K
Activity #4
Illustrate at least one example of constellations and write a short description on it.
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Post – Test
Reflection
1. Outline several details of the lesson that you have learned in this week.
2. What is/are the difficulty/ies that you encountered in this lesson?
Reference/s:
Fraknoi, et al. 2016, Astronomy, OpenStax Publication.
https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00092#:~:text=Stars%20form
%20from%20an%20accumulation,and%20shines%20like%20the%20Sun.
Datukan et al. (2017). Mixploring Science 9.Vibal Group Inc. Quezon City (pp. 173 –
180)
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Prepared by:
KEANNO ROD M. PELIÑA
Instructor I
Reviewed by:
LEAH C. NAVARRO, EdD
Chairperson, Teacher Education Department
Approved by:
DIONITO F. MANGAO Jr.
Director, Curriculum and Instruction
